[Kate Reed] found a quote by a homeless person that said “No one sees us”, which led her to exploring what it actually means to be invisible — and if we actually choose to be invisible by hiding away our emotions, sexual preference, race or income. She realized that too often, we choose to only see what we want to see, rendering all the rest invisible by looking away. Her public art campaign and Hackaday Prize entry “Invisible” aims to increase social awareness and strengthening the community by making hidden thoughts, feelings and needs visible.
Inspired by the artist [Jin Young Yu], [Kate] started experimenting with transparent, hollow sculptures. She figured that people could write their secrets on a piece of paper and drop it into the sculpture through a slot. The more of these invisibilities are collected inside the sculpture, the more visible it becomes.
In the planning of her work, [Kate] found that a frame assembly from laser cut acrylic would be the best option to define the silhouette of her manikins. A layer of plastic wrap would become the transparent skin. After getting the 3D model for the structure just right in Rhino 3D, [Kate] went on by adding engraved ornamentation and the call “What makes you feel invisible?” to the chest plate. A slot beneath the text was added to fill the sculpture. [Kate] verified her design choices on a cardboard model, and eventually, all the pieces were cut from clear acrylic, assembled and wrapped. These sculptures are now being placed in different places over the world, collecting insights into a secret, invisible world.
[Kate] has become quite a star over at hackaday.io. In 2015, she joined the Hackaday Prize and made it to the semifinals with her project Hand Drive, an open-source 3D printable device that allows any wheelchair to be powered in a rowing motion. Enjoy the video of her speaking at the Hackaday SuperConference on “The Creative Process In Action”:
This must be a meme-fad. There is a new NPR program called Invisibleia (sp?), I only gathered about it as much as this project. Decimal and a couple zeros n.
The NPR thing is a podcast, with this description:
Invisibilia (Latin for invisible things) is about the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions.
So not quite the same. Although this project might be motivated by it.
On a personal note, I’m not too interested in this stuff as presented.
This is pretty lame compared to her previous projects. Dunno why she thought it would be worth entering in a serious competition.
I dunno why you thought your comment would be worth serious consideration.
I appreciate his comment well enough, I’m not too impressed myself but I take the stance that you can’t be into everything and maybe this stuff really works for some people.
Your comment however seems a few step below a critique on the actual subject of the post since it’s just bitching about another person’s view.
Please don’t say things like “a quote by a homeless that said”. They are people too, so how about “a quote by a homeless person that said”. Or was it a typo and I’m way overreacting?
Even if it’s a typo it needs to be changed. The title is highly offensive as is.
You’re not alone. I came to comment the same thing
I presume it’s a writing mishap, not only is the term ‘a homeless’ never used, it also stylistically makes no sense, plus HaD is known for its slip ups.
However, to go on about it is silly, and I don’t even think it needs the effort of an edit.
I’m not sure why you worry about such far out sensitivities regarding the homeless when every damn person on the planet gets called unimaginable things on a daily basis.
It’s a problem because people DO get called things like “a disabled” or even “a wheelchair” and it’s dehumanising and just plain rude.
The only people that use such terms are people with poor mental skills and education, people who are at a higher than average risk of becoming homeless, and so you are insulting the homeless for not having full mental acuity through no fault of themselves. Can you please not be so derogatory
I can only assume you’re trolling
I’ve never heard someone called ‘a homeless’ (is it an Americanism? In the UK ‘the homeless’ is commonly used), but I have heard people referred to as ‘a programmer’. Programmers are people too! Call them ‘programming people’. And I’ve heard ‘a thief’; it’s dehumanising, call them ‘thievy people’.
You’re right, this is missing a word and should have been “homeless person”. Fixed.
Gotta ask: How is this a hack? What’s next, daily affirmations?
Sadly, I find myself in the same slot. This is art. This just doesn’t strike me as a technology hack…
“Laser cut acrylic”
Plus: no Arduino!
They used to be called “Bums.”
Salient social commentary by an artist’s piece, but I’m having trouble seeing the part where it fits in with the sorts of things HaD does.
It’s an entry in the HaD prize. Th rest seems to be a feature on a specific HaD.io builder.